The present invention is related to a cardiac assist system having a transseptal cannula that extends through the atrial septum from the right atrium to the left atrium of the patient and a perfusion cannula that extends into the arterial system of the patient for circulating oxygenated blood throughout the patient. More specifically, the present invention is related to an extracorporeal blood pump, connected to the transseptal cannula at the pump inlet and the perfusion cannula at the pump outlet, that pumps blood at specified flow rates over a range of physiological pressure and is held in place on the patient""s leg.
For short term (hours to days) use in supporting significant circulation (1-3.5 LPM) of oxygenated blood, there is a need for simple equipment in a hospital that can be quickly connected to the patient without surgical intervention and that can provide bypass blood flow to the patient. The present invention provides a quick and relatively simple way of operation to assist the heart without an open-chest surgery.
The present invention pertains to a system supporting circulation of oxygenated blood. The system comprises a transseptal cannula set adapted to be inserted percutaneously in the femoral vein and extend through the atrial septum from right atrium to left atrium, a blood pump mechanism, connected to the transseptal cannula through the pump inlet and controlled by an external microprocessor based blood pump controller, for pumping blood received from the patient""s heart, a perfusion cannula adapted to be inserted percutaneously in the femoral artery and connected to the pump outlet for returning oxygenated blood to the arterial system of the patient. The cannula set consists of a cannula, a catheter, and a dilator. The catheter and dilator are used for insertion of the cannula.
The present invention pertains to a method and a process for assisting a patient""s heart. The method comprises a step of inserting a transseptal cannula percutaneously in the femoral vein of the patient and extending through the atrial septum from the right atrium to the left atrium. Next there is a step of inserting a perfusion cannula percutaneously in the femoral artery for returning oxygenated blood to the arterial system of the patient. Next is preferably a step of connecting the two cannulae to the pump. Then there is a step of pumping blood with a blood pump connected to the transseptal cannula and the perfusion cannula at specified flow rates over a range of physiological pressures. This step preferably includes control of the pump and monitoring of the control system and pump by an external pump controller in such a manner as to detect, manage, and alert the user to the applicable potential system faults without dedicated human monitoring.
In addition, the system of the present invention can be used to quickly access or redistribute a patient""s blood to a certain destination in a patient""s body by changing appropriate sizes of cannulae connected to the pump inlet and outlet.